Are Electric Vehicles green?
Depends on where you drive them
To keep your EVs running, you have to charge them.
And to charge them, you need electricity.
So if the electricity in your country is primarily produced using renewable energy, EVs are a great alternative.
But if your country is generating electricity using coal and natural gas, well, EVs are not really solving the problem.
There’s no doubt that EVs are way cleaner than diesel or petrol-powered cars.
But we have to look at the whole picture.
If your Tesla is using coal to get charged, it’s not the best thing.
What we need in fact is a fundamental change in our relationship with personal transport.
Reducing the number of car trips is a solution that’s independent of which type of car you drive.
EV or non-EV.
That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t promote the switch to EVs.
But just switching to EVs is not the solution.
What do you think?
Today, I have 3 startups for you that are using EVs outside the personal transport space.⬇️
The list is long…Electric cars have plenty of advantages- a smooth and silent driving experience, no emissions, easier to maintain, cheaper in the long run. Not to forget- they look cool too. But what if you don’t own one? Or you’re travelling and have left your EV at home?
Well, you can rent it…That’s where UFODRIVE comes in. It offers a 100% electric, 100% digital car rental experience across 9 countries. They have a fleet of electric cars with ranges between 250 and 400+ km. Drivers can make the bookings via an app and can use the car immediately, thanks to their keyless access technology.
Customers can pick up the car 24/7, 365 days.
Using advanced AI eMobility, UFODRIVE helps the customer with optimized charging and routing.
They also provide full insurance and roadside cover for the entire rental period.
B2B platform…Their electric platform can also be used by electric fleet owners to manage their rental, shared, commercial or private fleets. These fleet owners can tap into UFODRIVE’s platform to manage services like route mapping, maintenance planning, scheduling, charge point management and live battery tracking.
It comes at a cost…India is rapidly urbanizing. While that’s a good thing, the pollution levels are becoming really high as well. New Delhi is one of the most polluted capital cities in the world. All the ride-hailing services in the country are using vehicles that are primarily dependent on the internal combustion engine.
A different model…Blu Smart Mobility is decarbonizing mobility in India through its fleet of 100% electric vehicles. It’s an app-based ride-hailing service that sends an electric vehicle to your doorstep. Blu Smart owns the vehicles, unlike other ride-hailing services. Drivers can come and pick up the cars from the charging station and run them at their convenience.
Customers have the same booking experience as any other ride-hailing service.
They operate in Delhi right now and plan to expand to 5 other cities in the next 2 years.
They are also building a network of supercharging stations for drivers to go and charge the cars.
Customer centricity… The biggest issues I’ve faced with ride-hailing services are surge pricing and cancellations. As part of its effort to be more customer-centric, Blu Smart never cancels the ride and doesn’t apply any surge charges. I am not sure if their charging stations are running on solar but would love to see that. It would be a real game-changer.
Easier said than done…Canada wants to transition its medium and heavy-duty vehicles to zero-emission ones by 2040. That would essentially mean businesses replacing their trucks and vans with EVs. For businesses, that would mean setting aside finances to fuel this transition. And that requires planning and of course, money.
How about outsourcing?… That’s where Vancouver-based startup 7Gen comes in. They provide end-to-end services for businesses that need to transition their fleet to an electric one. They help them with installing, financing and managing charging infrastructure, studying project feasibility and costing and operational software.
They provide the clients with the money needed to buy EVs and charging infrastructure.
Clients pay a monthly fee to lease them and to cover operational costs.
7Gen also helps these businesses with unlocking the government subsidies and grants for transition to EVs.
You do what you do best…This prevents these companies from developing an in-house talent and they can focus on their core business. Apart from working with bigger clients like Ikea, they are also looking to work with municipal departments like garbage collection to electrify their fleet.
🙋Trivia of the week
In 1986, environmentalist Jay Westerveld coined this term when writing about a trip to Fiji three years earlier.
There, he had visited a resort where he saw a note asking customers to reuse their towels.
The resort claimed this would protect the ocean and reefs that were the front cover of their marketing.
But he also observed that the resort was growing rapidly, building new bungalows with little thought of the consequences.
And that was the irony.
Whilst the resort professed to care about the environment, their actions said otherwise.
And by asking the customers to reuse their towels, they saved the laundry cost.
Which term did he coin after this incident?
📊Stat of the week
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Thanks and see you next week😄
Greenwashing is the answer.